SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said that the celebration of International Human Rights Day, which falls on December 10 of each year, embodies the great importance attached to the basic values guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the fundamental freedoms that are protected and guaranteed by the rest of the international conventions and treaties for all the world's population without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex or religion.

73 years have passed since the strenuous struggle was made by human rights activists all over the world to educate people about their fundamental rights and to demand and extract them at times. Dozens of these activists fell in this sacred march, believing that respect for people and obtaining their fundamental rights in the face of atrocities committed by man against his fellow man, whether they are governments or individuals, until we reached where we are now.

Humanity today is called upon to unite in order to preserve the achievements that have been made, and to work together to neutralize human rights, which, unfortunately, have been subjected to flawed setbacks by many countries, directly or indirectly.

Many rights, on the top of which are the violated political rights, the erosion of freedom of expression, economic rights, climate change, digital rights, racism, oppression and marginalization due to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or identity, have turned into titles for political bidding and special interests at the expense of human rights.

The organization emphasized that the international community has failed to protect and promote human rights in Yemen. Human rights decisions in the corridors of the United Nations were subject to political polarization and economic interests, which contributed to undermining any efforts to hold human rights violators accountable in Yemen. This includes the failure to find an international mechanism to investigate crimes of human rights violations in Yemen, as well as turning the arenas of international institutions into an arena for concluding economic deals between countries and enforcing the deals of arms, which have become a disgrace to the western countries that praise human rights, on the top of which are America, France and Britain, without any regard for the life of the Yemeni citizen who is killed every day by the weapons of these countries.

The organization said, "It is unfortunate that we are celebrating International Human Rights Day, while everyone admits that Yemen has become a failed state without legitimate institutions, constitutional rule, an impartial independent judiciary, or a parliament that expresses the popular will, in addition to an insecure society that does not meet the basic requirements of life." Most of the population lives in renewed pain and suffering as millions of citizens, according to international figures, are living below the poverty line due to the blockade, lack of food, the collapse of the currency, increased corruption and the spread of discriminatory and racist rhetoric, while the international community is unable to exert pressure to stop the bloodshed, or to establish a long-term humanitarian truce that allows the entry of foodstuffs and the normalization of human life in Yemen.

The human rights organization noted that the parties to the conflict in Yemen do not respect human rights or the human dignity of citizens in their various places of residence, and that the numbers monitored by the reports are shocking. During the year 2022, “SAM” monitored more than (4000) violations, including child recruitment, arbitrary detention, (700) murders, (1703) injuries, (390) attacks on private property, and (85) attacks on public property. The Houthi militia tops the list of violators with (2580) violations, the legitimate government bears (390) violations, and 140 cases of violations were committed by UAE-affiliated forces. Yemeni women are still suffering from the imposition of restrictions related to their personal right to travel, dress and work by the Houthi group. During 2022, the organization monitored more than 100 cases of violations against women. The year 2022 also witnessed the continuation of violations against journalists and civil society activists in areas controlled by war parties, including Hadramout.

The organization said that violations related to economic rights and cyberspace continued, as corruption contributed in the various state agencies and institutions run by the parties to the conflict to the continuity of these violations. The reports revealed tremendous amounts of humanitarian aid sent to civilians, but the Houthi group is working to use it in favor of the war economy and the families that support it, in addition to the corruption of the fake aid. Obstacles also continue to deliver one of the great challenges. On the other hand, climate change contributed to the natural rights of the Yemeni citizen, as floods killed dozens of people, and forced others to leave their homes and deprive them of their farms in different Yemeni governorates. This requires concerted local and international efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni citizen.

The organization emphasized that the International Human Rights Day puts the local, regional and international community morally and humanely before its legal and moral responsibilities regarding the violations that civilians in Yemen are exposed to in general, and children and women in particular, by working to form a "global bloc far from global political polarization, to restore the dignity of the Yemeni person and ensure that human rights violators do not remain unpunished, that victims are redressed, and that justice prevails."

The organization also affirmed its continuation in exposing and documenting human rights violations, and seeking to bring violators to justice, as an essential part of its human rights identity, and an affirmation of its principles in defending humanity.

To download the statement here

Pic: https://theowp.org/reports/seizing-the-day-the-possibility-for-peace-in-yemens-extended-ceasefire/